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Eating, hiking, and Pie-nt in the sky

I’m finally sleeping a little better (averaging a solid 6 hours most nights, which is a vast improvement) and I really wanted to get out for a hike. I chose Ruby Lake, a 5 mile round trip from the trailhead at the end of our road. The trail starts off with Little Lakes Valley Trail, one of the most popular and crowded trails in this area, but then branches off and climbs up the valley’s walls. You can take it all the way to Mono Pass and multiple entry points into the backcountry, but I just wanted a easy outing. As you quickly gain elevation, you are able to see the chain of lakes that make up our canyon, framed by the gorgeous headwall in back. Just about the time that you lose the views, Ruby Lake appears. The best part was the abundant wildflowers, riots of colors all over. I had a fabulous time, and when I was about half-way tired (a little above Ruby Lake, but not yet at the pass) I savored the quiet and a protein bar, and then headed back down. There’s so many good hikes near us; I hope this sleeping thing keeps up, and I will get out more often!

Ruby Lake:

In honor of our second wedding anniversary (7/14), we had a big dinner for the crew this weekend. We made bacon-wrapped hot dogs, tater tots, coleslaw, fruit salad, and both gluten-free and gluten-full brownies, which we turned into brownie sundaes. We were so touched when the crew presented us with a card that everyone had signed, with anniversary congratulations. Although, with an awesome husband like JJ, it hasn’t been any sort of hardship to stay happily together. Even after 11 years together, he still continues to make my life so much better! (As does the fact that we enjoyed a couple rounds of ice cream this week!)

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The behemoth of our area is Mount Morgan, towering over us at 13,748. While the ultra-runner of the crew, Oriol, can make it up and back in just a few hours, it’s an all-day event for the rest of us. This week, Mary and Kevin attempted the summit, and we had high hopes for their success, since both have hiked the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Alas, a faulty water filter meant that they couldn’t replenish their drinking supply, and they wisely chose to turn back before they ran dry. They got high enough to get amazing views across the rest of the Sierras, and got enough exercise that Kevin was in bed by 6pm!

Hiking patches:

Camino pin:

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And an update on the no-pie situation in the cafe: things are going great! Amy and Steve, the managers, are trying some new things out, like emphasizing our house-smoked meats, and a happy hour on Friday and Saturday afternoons with local beer on tap. Customers are loving all of it! We’re running out of meats constantly, and will probably be adding more smokers to keep up with demand. The draft beers have been enormously popular, with 5 gallon kegs selling out in a day. The most amazing part is the profits. The resort makes the same amount of profit off of one little keg as it would after selling *35*pies, but with about 98% less effort. And when people order those beers, they tend to linger and then order from our happy hour menu as well. I’ve been particularly amazed with the tips that people leave when they’re drinking…I guess those beers make them really happy! The only hard part is that I’m just not a beer drinker, so it’s hard for me to talk it up the way that I can do with the ice cream. I had to learn to pour from the keg, and get just the right amount of foam. For the sake of science, I tried a couple varieties, like an IPA and a Porter, but they just tasted like light pee and dark pee to me! Yick! I do, however, want to point out that rather than our former name of Pie in the Sky, couldn’t we just switch to Pie-nt in the Sky?!

JJ and I have a sort-of vacation coming up, to take our RV to L.A. to have some body work done. Our rear corning moldings are coming loose, because the adhesive only lasts about 10 years on average. Starting Monday morning, we will visit the mothership, the factory where our baby was born, to get them removed and reattached. Hopefully, it will just be a 2 day project, and we can enjoy those famous SoCal beaches and also get a few chores done, too, while only missing out on 2 days of work. Soupy will stay at the Resort in Mary’s trailer, and probably get spoiled rotten! We’re not very excited about driving through the city, but it will be nice to have these repairs all done!